theftshttp://www.maclife.com/taxonomy/term/15930/all
enU.S. Government Officials to Test iOS 7's 'Activation Lock' Feature Todayhttp://www.maclife.com/article/news/us_government_officials_test_ios_7s_activation_lock_feature_today
<!--paging_filter--><p><img src="/files/u334114/2013/07/iphone5black.jpg" width="250" height="316" class="graphic-right" />San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman are back, and this time they mean business. We've covered the doubtful duo before in reference to their efforts to get Apple to help stem the tide of iPhone thefts more than it already has with Find My iPhone, and we saw that they were "cautiously optimistic" when <a href="http://www.maclife.com/article/news/ios_7s_activation_lock_may_turn_tide_thefts_lawmakers_cautiously_hopeful" target="_blank">Apple announced Activation Lock</a> for iOS 7 during WWDC. Now they want to put Activation Lock to the test, and with the help of the U.S. government to boot.</p><p>According to <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57594392-94/apple-samsungs-latest-phones-face-antitheft-stress-test/" target="_blank">CNET</a>, they're having specialists from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center attempt to crack both Activation Lock and the Samsung Galaxy S4's Lojack feature, an app that can remotely lock the smartphone and its accompanying data for $29.99 a year. Announced during WWDC in June, Apple's Activation Lock is a native iOS 7 feature that requires the original Apple ID and password associated with an iPhone or iPad to erase a device's data and to reactivate it after it's been deactivated. The specialists will attempt to break into and erase the data much as a criminal would, in an effort to stem what Schneiderman and Gascon call the "national epidemic of violent street crimes commonly known as 'Apple Picking.'"</p><p>"While we are appreciative of the efforts made by Apple and Samsung to improve security of the devices they sell, we are not going to take them at their word," Schneiderman and Gascon said in a statement. "Today we will assess the solutions they are proposing and see if they stand up to the tactics commonly employed by thieves." Their efforts aren't without warrant--as CNET reports, the Federal Communications Commission revealed earlier this year that around 113 smartphones are lost or stolen every minute.</p><p>Schneiderman and Gascon expect the results to be in by the end of the day today.</p><p><em> Follow this article's writer, <a href="https://twitter.com/LeifJohnson" target="_blank">Leif Johnson</a>, on Twitter.</em></p>http://www.maclife.com/article/news/us_government_officials_test_ios_7s_activation_lock_feature_today#commentsNewsActivation LockGasconiOS 7iphonerobberySchneidermantheftsThu, 18 Jul 2013 22:03:34 +0000Leif Johnson17563 at http://www.maclife.comiOS 7's 'Activation Lock' May Turn Tide of Thefts; Lawmakers Cautiously Hopefulhttp://www.maclife.com/article/news/ios_7s_activation_lock_may_turn_tide_thefts_lawmakers_cautiously_hopeful
<!--paging_filter--><p>You might recall that last month the New York Times ran <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/technology/cellphone-thefts-grow-but-the-industry-looks-the-other-way.html?pagewanted=1&amp;_r=3&amp;partner=yahoofinance&amp;" target="_blank">a charged expose</a> lambasting Apple and other smartphone manufacturers for not doing more to stem the rising tide of smartphone theft; with iOS 7's announcement yesterday, Apple appears to have delivered a workable solution, and much sooner than expected.</p><p>The new feature is Activation Lock, which prevents users from deactivating an iOS device with Find My iPhone enabled without first entering the Apple ID and password associated with the device. Apparently this works even if the thieves wipe the device clean. It's not quite the remote "kill switch" lawmakers and authorities envisioned when they first started voicing their concerns, but serves the same purpose by effectively rendering the iDevices useless.</p><p><img src="/files/u334114/2013/06/activationlock.jpg" width="620" height="348" /></p><p>Yesterday afternoon, the Associated Press <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sf-ny-officials-wait-judge-232452112.html" target="_blank">managed to contact</a> San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman--the most vocal critics--and acquire a joint statement from them. Their response was wisely cautious:</p><p>"We are appreciative of the gesture made by Apple to address smartphone theft. We reserve judgment on the activation lock feature until we can understand its actual functionality."</p><p>On Thursday, both Gascon and Schneiderman plan to meet with representatives from Apple, Google, Samsung and Microsoft to discuss the progress on their proposed "kill switches." Their concern isn't without considerable basis, as evidenced by the FCC report findings that one in three robberies without the United States involves a mobile phone. Earlier in the year, Gascon reported that almost half of all robberies in San Francisco last year, and last holiday season, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg blamed smartphone thefts for the city's rising crime rate.</p><p><em> Follow this article's writer, <a href="https://twitter.com/LeifJohnson" target="_blank">Leif Johnson</a>, on Twitter.</em></p>http://www.maclife.com/article/news/ios_7s_activation_lock_may_turn_tide_thefts_lawmakers_cautiously_hopeful#commentsNewsActivation LockideviceiphonetheftsTue, 11 Jun 2013 22:06:05 +0000Leif Johnson17234 at http://www.maclife.com